Chapter 33
thirty-three
Rosalie
Iwake up the same way I went to bed, fulfilled in every way and with a pair of lips pressed to my forehead. My eyes flutter open and Cameron comes into focus.
“Morning, baby.”
Reflexively, I stretch, closing my eyes and straightening my arms above my head as my legs extend and my toes point in a taut line.
I let out a moan because, honestly, a true stretch isn’t even remotely fulfilling without one, and even though there is a dull ache between my thighs reminding me of my late night with the extraordinarily sexy man who just woke me up, I haven’t felt this well rested in weeks.
“Good morning,” I say, a smile blooming across my face as my eyes open to see Cameron staring down at me.
With the light touch of his lips and the soft way his voice sounded when he woke me up only seconds ago, I was not expecting to open my eyes to see his gaze so full of an emotion equivalent to torture.
He blinks, runs his hands down his face, and abruptly turns to exit the room.
Startled, I rip the covers away and hurry to get out of bed to follow him, but as I stand, he comes charging back into the room, eyes down, shaking his head, and muttering to himself. I think I hear the words morning temptress come out of his mouth but I’m unsure.
“Cameron,” I say questioningly.
His head snaps up to mine.
“Good morning. The girls are in the living room and I’m making pancakes.”
“Um, okay,” I sputter, slightly confused by this reaction, although thoroughly entertained by his inner turmoil.
“Great, see you in the kitchen.”
He turns to go and makes it about three steps before turning back and kissing me hard on the mouth. The kiss is brief, but when he pulls back and stalks out of the room, I’m left standing there, breathless.
I touch my fingers to my lips.
“What the hell was that?” I murmur, deciding to use the bathroom before heading into the kitchen.
Still confused by Cameron’s reaction, I turn on the light and glance quickly in the mirror.
HO-LY. SHIT.
My hair is wild. WILD. I mean, sticking up in so many directions it looks like each strand is defying the laws of gravity. My lips are swollen, and I think I see the faintest mark on my shoulder from where Cameron must have accidentally nipped my skin last night, trying to muffle his climax.
It’s then I notice exactly how I look in the clothes Cameron put on me last night. The shirt is large on my petite frame, and the soft cotton material skims over my breasts in an obscene manner, flowing over the top of them in a way that accentuates my hardened nipples.
I cross my arms over my chest in embarrassment. From whom? I’m not sure because I’m the only one in the bathroom.
I look down to see my feet are covered almost entirely by the bottom of Cameron’s sweatpants.
Panic takes over and I pull up the hem of my shirt, wondering exactly how freaking far the waistband fell for my feet to be covered like that, and hoping my ass wasn’t hanging out this whole time.
I let out a sigh of relief when I see the sweatpants still tied and on my hips, right where they’re supposed to be.
I laugh at my overreaction and then sober, as I realize this is what Cameron saw when he came in to wake me up.
No freaking wonder he bolted. It looks like I put my finger in an electrical socket. I head back out to the guest room and grab a hair tie to wrangle the wild mess atop my head into a passable topknot and put on a bra before leaving the room.
I hear the sound of Cameron’s deep voice mixed with the sweet sound of giggles the closer I get to the kitchen. When I turn the corner, I’m halted by what I see.
Cameron is at the stove, his back to me, in gray sweatpants that fit him a whole hell of a lot better than they fit me, showing off his butt to perfection.
The only thing that would make this vision better is if he were shirtless, but with the tiny audience he has, a fitted white tee is the next best option.
I’ve never found making pancakes to be sexy before, but the way I can see his back muscles ripple through his threadbare shirt and the slight flex of his forearms as he flips them over, I could be convinced.
My thoughts are interrupted by a small body colliding with mine at warp speed, almost knocking me over.
“Good morning, Mommy!”
I wrap my arms around her and steady us both.
“Good morning, Paigey. How was your sleepover?”
“It was so fun! Can we do it again tonight?”
My body heats at the thought of another night here at Cameron’s house. However, it’s quickly doused by the reality that last night’s sleeping arrangements were out of necessity. Both girls were exhausted, and that’s why we stayed. Group sleepovers are not going to be the norm.
I look down at Paige, running my hand affectionately down the back of her head.
“I’m sure there will be more sleepovers between you and Addie over the summer. Maybe we can have her over to our house next.”
“But we don’t have a pool,” Paige pouts.
I stoop down in front of her and put my hands on her shoulders.
“You’re right, Paige. We don’t have a pool, and that’s okay. But we do have nail polish and makeup. I could do your hair and you girls can dress up in fancy clothes and wear Mommy’s jewelry.”
Paige loves to rummage through my jewelry to find all the sparkly things, so I know I’ve got her with that offer.
“Oh, yes!” Paige says while doing a happy dance.
Satisfied, she’s about to walk back over to Addison when her eyes take in my oversized clothes.
“Mommy, why are you wearing a giant’s clothes?”
I hear Cameron chuckle, and I look over to see he’s turned around to watch us with a shit-eating grin on his face. I give him a playful scowl, and inwardly I sigh with relief that the awkwardness from earlier has dissipated.
“Well, you know how you had to borrow Addison’s pajamas because we didn’t bring any extra stuff over here?”
She nods.
“Well, I couldn’t fit into Addison’s pajamas.”
Paige giggles. “Yeah, Mommy, that’s because you’re an adult and we’re kids.”
“Well, the only other adult in the house is Mr. Cameron, so I had to borrow his pajamas.”
“Oh! Okay!” She says it more emphatically, then turns to Cameron.
“Mr. Cameron, you’re a giant.”
I snicker to myself. She doesn’t know just how right she is.
As I’m having my moment of immaturity, Cameron stomps closer, pretending to be a giant ogre, and scoops Paige up over his shoulder, tickling her to the point of manic laughter while walking her over to the kitchen table.
Then he heads for Addison, who tries to make a run for it, but, of course, he catches her, dropping her next to Paige.
He turns and walks toward me, a playful look in his eye.
“Don’t you dare!”
The girls squeal, “Get her!”
“Cameron! Don’t!”
But he doesn’t listen. Thankfully, instead of throwing me over his shoulder like the first night we came to this house, he picks me up and cradles me before setting me down on the chair next to Paige. He points a finger at each of us. “No one move a muscle. The pancakes are coming.”
The girls laugh, and I smile widely, shaking my head at his crazy antics.
He walks back to the stove, where a giant stack of pancakes is sitting, and brings them to the table. He then produces eggs and bacon from the warmer and a bowl of fruit from the fridge. A look of astonishment must show on my face as I hungrily gawk at the spread before me.
As if reading my mind, Cameron automatically explains, “I heard the girls get up a couple of hours ago, around seven thirty.”
“Why didn’t you wake me? I would have helped.”
“Nope. I know this week has been long for you, and you deserve some rest on your day off.”
“Thank you,” I say quietly, appreciating this man more and more each day.
Cameron finally sits down, and I have to laugh at the almost synchronized way we grab pancakes from the stack to place on the plates in front of us and begin cutting them into squares.
I’m just about finished when Addison pipes up from across the table. “Hey, Daddy, is Ms. Rosalie your girlfriend?”
My fork clatters, and I hear Cameron’s fork scrape across the plate.
Honestly, I’m not sure why we aren’t more prepared for this question.
Cameron and I have already discussed wanting to talk with the girls soon since the four of us have been spending so much time together.
They’re perceptive little things, and we’ve gotten a little more brazen with our simple touches of affection—a hug here or a quick hand squeeze there.
I thought we were being relatively discreet, but leave it to these two to pick up on it.
Cameron looks at me, a questioning eyebrow raised.
I give an almost imperceptible nod of my head, having no clue what he’s going to say, but trusting he won’t overshare or overstep with his words.
“Well, Addie, what do you think the word girlfriend means?”
“That you like her a whole lot. More than all your other friends.”
Cameron nods. “That’s right. I do like Rosalie a whole lot. She’s special to me and I like spending time with her. But I also love spending time with just you. It’s also fun when the four of us spend time together, right?”
Paige pipes up. “Yeah, like swimming parties and sleepovers.”
“Exactly,” Cameron agrees.
“Does this mean you’re going to kiss her and marry her?” Addison asks, a hesitant curiosity in her tone.
I inhale sharply and hold my breath, wondering how Cameron is going to handle answering this question.
This situation is different for Paige because her dad has never been involved in her life.
I’ve been as honest as I can when discussing why her dad isn’t in the picture while still maintaining appropriateness for her age.
But Addison had a mom. A wonderful mom who her dad loves deeply, and even if she doesn’t remember a whole lot about her, he’s done a phenomenal job of keeping Julianne a part of their lives.
“It means, right now, if you and Paige are okay with it, Rosalie and I will continue to spend time together other and get to know each other better. People who get married know lots and lots about each other, and Rosalie and I are still getting to know one another.”
He looks away from Addison briefly to look at me with a soft smile. “But I do really like her.”
A warmth spreads through my chest at his words, melting me from the inside out and I can’t help but match his contented smile with one of my own.
This draws Addison’s gaze to me, which I hope means it’s okay for me to join in on the conversation.
“I really like spending time with your dad, Addison. He’s kind and funny and he’s the best dad to you. All these things make me like him and want to get to know him better.” I look at Paige. “How do you feel about this? Are you okay with me spending time getting to know Cameron better?”
“Yeah, I like Mr. Cameron, too.”
“What do you think, Addison?” Cameron asks, to ensure we’re all on the same page.
“Yeah. Ms. Rosalie is so nice, and I like hanging out with just girls sometimes.”
I chance a glance at Cameron to see if this comment hurt his feelings, but he seems unbothered. I’ll have to check in when we’re alone, though, just to make sure.
Paige looks anxiously at me. “Does this mean you’re going to hang out without us?”
“Maybe sometimes,” I say, knowing full well that’s what we’ve already been doing. “But we love spending time with you both and want to make sure we have fun nights like last night a lot more.”
“Yes!” Addison says, holding her hand up for a high five, which Paige returns enthusiastically.
Addison then stuffs the last giant bite of pancake into her mouth before asking, “Can we go play now?”
“Sure! But put your dish in the sink before you leave the kitchen.”
The girls are a cacophony of voices as they run down the hallway back to Addison’s room. I turn to Cameron and let out a long breath.
“Not too bad, boyfriend.”
“I was panicking on the inside, girlfriend.”
I laugh at the titles that seem a bit too juvenile for where we are in life, but love saying them anyway.
I get up from my seat and walk around to his side of the table, and he scoots back, making room for me to sit sideways on his lap.
My arms loop around his neck, and his arms go around my waist as he pulls me closer.
I look deep into his emerald eyes, hoping the emotion on my face conveys all my gratitude for the incredible way he handled the conversation just before I lean down to kiss him.
It’s soft, simple, but lingers with feeling. It’s the kind of kiss that feels like more.
His hands slide up to cup my face, and when I pull back, they remain, his thumbs brushing my cheeks with slow, languid strokes. The look in his eyes is warm with emotion.
“You’re pretty special to me, too,” I say with a smile that he returns. “And thank you for handling it the way you did. It was perfect.”
“Everything I said was true. You’re special to me, and I can’t wait to know more.” He kisses my lips. “And more.” He kisses my cheek. “And more.” He kisses my neck and adds a small swipe of his tongue against my skin that has a gasp escaping my lips.
He laughs in a slightly choked off manner before placing a quick kiss to the same spot and pulling back to look at me.
“We should probably ease the girls into the whole physical affection thing…me with an erection and you making little noises like that as I kiss down your body probably isn’t the best first step.”
Thoughts of him kissing down my body, especially since I know exactly how it feels now, have me squirming on his lap and eliciting a groan from Cameron.
“Nope. Up you go,” he says with a throaty laugh before lifting me and swatting my ass.
I echo his laugh as I saunter to the kitchen to help clean up the breakfast mess.
I feel lighter, happier, and more hopeful than I’ve felt in the months since moving to Winhaven, and I know it has everything to do with the man who just claimed me as his girlfriend to the two most important people in our lives.